Reviews

Bound by Blood by Jessica M. Butler

audreynbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

3,75 /5

After a deal gone wrong with a fae, Erryn left her town and found shelter in a cute cottage owned by a lovely couple. They let her live there and she took over the soup business as long as their grandchildren doesn’t need the house to live in.
One day she sees a cute little winged dog coming to her house, filled by loneliness she decides to adopt it. A blood fae comes to get it, it turns out the little winged dog is not real, it is a magical apparition that took the wrong shape. The dog was supposed to be a creature capable of finding his lost family. The blood fae Ryul wants his magic back otherwise his magic will be weakened and the little dog will become real. Erryn doesn’t want to and even though Fae blood are dangerous because they can manipulate your blood and body like a puppet, she makes a trade with him. She can keep the dog and in return she makes soup for him every night for the next three months in hope to restore his magic. He warns her not to fall in love with him because if you tell a blood fae « I love you », they can ask a wish from you and you have to fulfill it not matter what, otherwise you die. So here starts the story of a women hunted by her past that decided to close her heart from love and a cursed fae who is trying to find his family.



This story is in the cozy and warm subgenre of fantasy. This book counts around 210 pages. The first half of it was quite slow pace, it was about Erryn’s daily life as a soup maker: talking to clients, preparing her soups, cleaning, reading recipes … and taking care of her little dog. There are a few conversations with Ryul but not a lot happened. As opposed, the second part of this story was fast pace and a lot more was happening, it got me more interested in the story.
The romance between Ryul and Erryn was cute. Ryul appear as a cold character when in reality he is really a cinnamon roll.
A lot of infos were given and we don’t really know where we are going with it. The author’s made a note at the end of the book explaining that a series will come out in 2024 about some of the other characters mentioned in the book. So I guessed all those infos are there to introduced this new series coming out. I feel like it was maybe a little bit too much infos, for example we were given all of the grandchildren’s names of the couple who provided the cottage to Erryn, but I get that she wanted to give clues about what is going to be in her series.
This novella is written in a single POV of the FMC. There is no spice.

peppers_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

cute and fluffy story

jksteach's review

Go to review page

relaxing

3.0

cece_lynn's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This was the first book I’ve read by Jessica and now I’m excited to read more of her backlist. I love fantasy romance and Bound by Blood is a super cute and cozy read. Erryn and Ryul really came to life and their early interactions had me laughing and rooting for them to get together. Buttons may not be a normal dog but he is absolutely the best boy. 

rebecamarz's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

beanieberta's review

Go to review page

4.0

very soft and warm and cute.

tizzyxlish23's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

mnimismemory's review

Go to review page

5.0

Bound By Blood by Jessica M Butler is the second book in the Starry Kingdoms of the Fae Collection. These books are all standalones and this one is a Cozy Fantasy Romance with Hearty Soup, An Ugly Pup, a Cursed Blood Fae, and a Lonely Human. It’s a clean romance which I throughly enjoyed reading. This read is full of heart and humor, that I consumed cover to cover. 

This is the story of a human named Erryn and a blood Fae, Ryul. This is such a sweet read that’s full of humor and a beautiful romance of two emotionally scarred people coming together. I love a good short page turning fantasy romance and that’s exactly what this is! I can’t rommend it enough. 

Final review:

5 out of 5 stars

_winterwriter's review

Go to review page

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0